


Let Me Keep You

by RosalindHawkins



Series: "Let Me" [2]
Category: Bones (TV), Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Brotherhood, Brotherly Love, Courtroom Drama, Homosexuality, Lawyers, M/M, Male Homosexuality, Romance, Teen Angst, Yaoi, puppyshipping - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-24 14:46:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7512325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosalindHawkins/pseuds/RosalindHawkins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Seto's guardianship of his brother is challenged, can he prove before a court of law that he is a worthy guardian of his brother? As his painful past is exposed, will he be able to hold himself together, or will he lose it all and leave Joey to gather the broken pieces of his heart?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Addiction

Joey lay his head on Seto's shoulder as they watched the virtual sun sink behind a mountain range in a vivid show of color. They were on one of their rare virtual dates, and Joey loved how being here always seemed to soothe Seto, no matter what they were doing.

"What's this program for, Seto?" Joey asked drowsily. "It's not like any of the other VR games you've released."

"This is something we've been developing on the side now for a while. We haven't announced it yet, but this is a program we created for children who are terminally ill with cancer or otherwise irrevocably disabled. Since there are things that they can't do and will never be able to do in the real world, we created a safe, benign Virtual World where they can experience those things, if only for a short while. Once it's finished, we're going to start bringing it to hospitals where they can use it for free. At least, the charity organization we're working with will start doing that; they will supply the overseers and we'll provide the technology."

"That's so cool," Joey replied, impressed. "I'm really proud of you for doing that." He lifted his head and kissed Seto's cheek as Seto moved his arm from Joey's shoulders to his waist, pulling him close as Seto turned his head to initiate a full kiss. It was slow and sensual, Seto taking advantage of every moment they had here so that he could feel normal for just a while.

He was starting to become afraid, though. He saw a danger in his use of this program. What if he became even less sensitive in reality because it was such less stimulation in contrast to the Virtual World? What if he came to a point where he never wanted to leave? It was the same danger that the alcoholic and drug addict faced: abandoning reality for an eternal dream.

Seto would be lying if he said that he'd never been tempted by the idea of drugs, but he was glad he'd never indulged such a foolish notion. They simply weren't worth the price he'd be paying, not just monetarily, but in his personal life, at his job. His reputation would never recover if he were to do drugs and the media got a hold of it. Besides, he would never forgive himself for how that would affect his little brother.

No, he'd chosen a different addiction for himself: first it had been self-harm, then it had become Joey. He still struggled, still had days when his numb nerves drove him nuts. There were still days when he would run until he couldn't walk, hit the punching bag until his knuckles bled. There were still days when Joey would find him curled into a ball on the floor of his closet, seizing reality with both hands as he fought the urges to cut and to cry. Those days mostly occurred when there was something to remind him about his past, especially Gozaburo. Sometimes these reminders were unavoidable.

He still struggled, but he was so much better than he had been five months ago. Besides that, it comforted him to know that Joey was much better off than he used to be. Joey's anorexia was far behind him, his thin frame no longer as it once was, and definitely no longer underweight. He was as open and warm as he was before things had gotten so bad with his father. He was the light of Seto's life, right next to Mokuba.

"Damn," he muttered, breaking the kiss to check his watch. "I promised Mokuba we'd be home before eight." Joey groaned as well and bonked his forehead with his hand.

"I completely forgot, I'm sorry. Come on, let's hurry. We don't want to disappoint him, after all."

Seto had promised to watch a movie with Mokuba that night, and he didn't want to be late for it _again_.

* * *

When the movie was over and Mokuba had been put to bed, Seto and Joey retired to their room hand in hand. When they got there, Seto had an intangible surprise for him. That night, he'd tried to initiate something with Joey far gentler than their usual activities. He'd been practicing control over his fine motor skills, and, filled with a sense of guilt that he couldn't so much as make love without hurting his partner somehow, he was taking this night to be as tender with Joey as he'd always wanted to be. It was a token of gratitude, a gift of appreciation for everything that Joey had done for him.

Joey understood fairly quickly what was happening not long after Seto had ensnared him in a surprisingly gentle kiss. He understood that Seto was foregoing much of his own pleasure to give Joey something special, and he found it incredibly touching. Of course, he refused to let Seto get away with such a stunt, but he didn't stop him from doing what must have been difficult for him.

"You know, Seto, you didn't have to do that," he murmured as he stroked Seto's hair at the end of it all.

"I know, but you deserved it," he answered sleepily, kissing Joey's forehead. "You deserve someone better than me…"

"There's nobody better for me than you," Joey insisted, kissing Seto briefly in the hope that Seto might actually believe him this time. Why did he have to be so hard on himself? At least days like this were becoming less frequent. More and more often, Seto was able to accept Joey's love and love him in return without questions or comments concerning what either one of them deserved. It was taking some time, but the tortured soul of the corporation executive was finally starting to find some peace.

* * *

They awoke the next morning in a naked tangle of long limbs, and since it was Saturday, Seto didn't have to wake up as early as he usually did. That meant that Joey had a chance to be the one to wake Seto. It was a pity that Seto didn't feel ticklish anywhere; Joey would have loved to see the CEO sent into a fit of laughter from being tickled. He made a mental note to try that the next time they were in the Virtual World as he set about waking his lover.


	2. Temper

The weekend passed pleasantly and uneventfully, only to be followed by a stressful, irritating Monday.

"Why are people so stupid?" Seto asked himself more and more throughout the day. By the time he finally let himself go home, he felt like the day couldn't get any worse. But then it did.

The moment he saw Mokuba, he knew something was wrong. He was avoiding his older brother, hiding his face behind his hair.

"Mokuba, come over here," he said sternly, putting down his briefcase as he knelt down to his brother's level. Mokuba sighed and came over to his brother, pushing his hair aside. He knew from experience that it was no good trying to hide anything from his brother, especially once he suspected that something was wrong.

"You got into another fight?" Seto sounded both frustrated and disappointed.

"I didn't start it this time!" Mokuba defended.

"So you were fighting back?" he clarified.

"Yes, and I would've won, too, if it had been a fair fight!"

"What made it unfair?"

Mokuba snorted disdainfully, an echo of his brother.

"Three on one is hardly fair."

Seto sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as his headache got worse.

"Was it the same thugs as last time?" he asked tiredly. Mokuba crossed his arms stubbornly.

"I'm not telling you, because the last thing I need is for you to show up at school and embarrass me again."

Seto winced. He couldn't help that he was protective of Mokuba, that he hated the idea of him getting picked on. Was it really so bad for him to do something about it?

"Come on, let's get some ice on that," Seto said as he stood, putting one hand on Mokuba's shoulder as he started to escort him away, only to be interrupted.

"Seto! Mokuba! It's been so long!" Those voices. He knew those voices. He _hated_ those voices. He turned around to see a man and a woman walking towards them, escorted by a butler. Seto scooped Mokuba up into his arms as he turned around to face them.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded, severely pissed and not trying to hide it.

"Well, we wanted to come and find you, see how you turned out. We felt so terrible after we had to give you up to the orphanage, and—What happened to Mokuba? How'd he get a black eye?"

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Seto interrupted savagely, a fire in his eyes.

"What? No, of cour—"

"Then you think I don't remember what you did?"

"I have no idea what you—"

"Get out!" he shouted. "Get out and don't you dare come back!" The butler escorted the couple away as Seto carried Mokuba briskly down the hallway towards the kitchen.

"Seto, who were those people?" Mokuba asked tentatively, his arms wrapped tightly around his brother's neck.

"It doesn't matter. We don't have to worry about them anymore." He kissed Mokuba's forehead before setting him down and sending him off to finish his homework while he got him an ice pack.

* * *

Joey watched the strange couple leave in a huff, muttering to each other inaudibly from where he was clipping the hedge bushes. He was suspicious, but he didn't have a guess as to who they were or what they were doing at the Kaiba mansion.

When he stopped working for the day, he went to Seto's office, but didn't find him, so he went to Seto's room and found him in a state of agitation as he removed his tie and his wallet.

"How was your day, dear?" Joey asked sweetly as he came over to hug Seto—who was still in his business suit while Joey was in his sweaty work clothes.

"A pain," Seto sighed, hugging Joey in return and resting his chin on the blond's shoulder. "I hate Mondays."

"That's not new."

"People are idiots."

"Well, everybody's stupid compared to you," Joey quipped back, giving Seto's cheek a kiss, making the CEO chuckle.

"Thanks." Seto released Joey and kissed his forehead before going into his closet to put his tie away.

"Who were those people that came by an hour ago?" Joey asked curiously, eliciting a groan from Seto.

"I don't want to talk about it," he answered too quickly, sounding irked.

"If they upset you, then I think you should talk about it."

"What makes you think they upset me?"

"Well, they left looking all miffed and annoyed, so I'm guessing you displeased them, which mostly happens when other people displease you."

Seto stepped out of the closet and leaned against the doorframe.

"They were my aunt and uncle," he answered, looking annoyed himself. "We stayed with them for two years after our father died. They used up our inheritance then dumped us at the orphanage."

"Ouch." Joey stepped up to Seto and started unbuttoning his shirt. "Is that even legal?"

"I wouldn't think so, but it never occurred to me to find out," Seto answered, nuzzling his head against Joey's as his partner undressed him.

"What did they want?"

"Doesn't matter. I sent them away, and they won't be coming back."

"Was that wise?" Joey asked, pulling Seto's shirt out of his waistband and pushing the shirt off of the brunette's broad shoulders so that it fell to the floor and landed in a crumpled pile of cotton. He kissed Seto's neck and nipped at the skin as he pushed Seto's back against the wall.

"They mistreated us; you can't blame me for not wanting to see them again," Seto rasped, his heart racing in anticipation. "It's a little early in the evening for this, isn't it?"

"You're stressed. You need it."

That was the last thing they said before Seto picked up Joey and carried him to the bed to continue this more comfortably.

* * *

After dinner, Joey continued to try and help Seto relax. A back massage was perfectly fitting, in Joey's opinion, and since Joey was one of the few people Seto would let see his back, and the only one he let touch him, there was nobody better to administer it. Joey was surprisingly good at giving massages, despite his lack of formal training.

"What did you mean when you said that they mistreated you?" Joey dared to ask in the relative silence of the room. Seto didn't speak for a few minutes as he gathered his thoughts and his memories.

"I was fairly young then, and I don't have a lot of memories from that period of my life. I tried to forget it as best I could, and I guess it must have worked, because I have very few memories of when we were living with them. I remember some of the things they did to Mokuba, but nothing of what they did to me." He spoke in a low voice and sounded somewhat detached. It was his way of dealing with his past.

"What _did_ they do?" he asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"I don't want to talk about it." Seto sounded a little choked up, and Joey leaned down to kiss the spot behind his ear.

"That's okay, you don't have to," he murmured. "You don't have to talk about it ever again." Joey was more than willing to let the subject drop; it was reminders like this that tended to cause a relapse, after all. He'd have to keep a close eye on him for the next few days, at least.

"I'd rather talk about something else," Seto mumbled, and Joey smirked.

"We could just not talk at all," he purred back as he shifted his weight off of Seto and rolled the brunette over on the bed, positioning himself between Seto's legs. "I hope you won't mind my taking control this time, since I let you have your way before dinner."

Seto just grunted as he pulled Joey's mouth down to meet his own and wrapped his legs around Joey's waist. They were already naked—that had been Joey's idea—and the door was locked. All they needed was the lube.


	3. Threat

Three days after Seto sent his aunt and uncle packing, trouble came knocking on the door to his office in the form of police officers. Seto was in the middle of a phone call with one of his associates in China when the three law enforcement officers burst in on him. He apologized to his associate quickly and promised to call him back, then hung up, severely irked.

"Can I help you, officers?" he asked, trying to be polite, but not trying to hide his irritation. His eyes quickly flicked over the faces of the three men: one looked uncomfortable and uncertain, one looked angry, and the last looked tense and restrained. The last of the three stepped forward, taking the lead.

"Mr. Kaiba, we're here to take you in for questioning."

"About what?" What could he possibly know that would be of interest to the police? He kept all of his business legal and legit, so it couldn't be about something _he'd_ done.

"You've been accused of child abuse, but in the lack of sufficient evidence, we're giving you a chance to defend yourself." That was the aggressive one, glaring at Seto as if he'd done him some kind of personal offense.

"What?!" He couldn't even believe his ears. "That's bullshit! I'd never hurt a child."

"Please, Mr. Kaiba," the nervous-looking one said. "If you'll just come quietly, you'll get the chance to prove that's true, and you have nothing to worry about."

They were asking him to let them escort him out of his own office building like he was some kind of criminal. No way was that ever going to happen. He closed his laptop and secured it within his briefcase, as if he was going to comply, but as he stood, he suddenly shoved away from the desk and shouted, _"You'll never take me alive!"_

Seto lunged for the window, holding the briefcase between his shoulder and the glass to protect himself from injury as he burst into the outer air with a tremendous crash of glass. He only fell three stories before he grabbed hold of a flagpole, effectively halting his descent. He activated the radio in his collar by squishing it between his chin and his shoulder.

"Roland, Red Alert: I need you to send the KaibaCopter immediately."

"Right away, sir," came the rapid response, and within sixty seconds, his helicopter arrived to rescue him.

"Take me to the mansion." He sat back, arms crossed and his whole body tense. "And send someone to pick up Mokuba from school."

He was dropped off in front of his home, and as he strode towards the door, he passed a perplexed Joey. He grabbed his hand as he passed him, dragging him inside with him.

"Hey, if you wanted a quickie, you didn't have to take the helicopter," Joey said nervously, something in the back of his mind telling him that Seto wasn't here for sex.

"We're officially fugitives," he informed his boyfriend brusquely. "The police came after me with some bogus charges. I knew this would happen one day, so I was prepared. As soon as Mokuba gets here, we're fleeing the country."

"Isn't that a bit drastic?" Joey commented nervously as Seto continued to lead the way towards their room. "If they're really false charges, you should be able to prove your innocence easily enough."

"And be caught at the police station being treated like a verified criminal?" Seto snorted disdainfully. "No thank you."

"Seto, what did they charge you with exactly?" Joey asked curiously as Seto finally reached his room, pulling Joey inside with him and going straight for the closet.

"Child abuse," he answered coldly without looking.

"Ouch." Now Joey understood why Seto was being so stubborn and upset. "But Seto, I still think it would be best to turn yourself in, pay the bail, and just get it over with. It shouldn't take much to convince them that they're wrong, right?"

"It depends on their source," Seto answered, emerging from the closet with a small, pre-packed suitcase Seto always had on hand for last-minute plans. "And I have a feeling I know who it was," he added darkly.

"Who?" Joey couldn't imagine that Seto had even _more_ enemies out there that he hadn't already dealt with—or was this an old enemy returning for revenge?

"I'm inclined to say that it's my aunt and uncle, but that's only based on a hunch."

Roland knocked on the door and entered then, and Seto turned on him immediately.

"Roland, I need you to-"

"I'm sorry, sir, but the police have already acquired your brother," Roland interrupted, looking apprehensive of his employer.

"What do you mean they _acquired_ Mokuba?" Seto demanded suddenly looking absolutely furious. Joey put a hand on his shoulder, hoping to prevent an outburst of temper.

"They went to his school and confiscated him as soon as it became clear that you were unwilling to cooperate. They plan on finding him a temporary residence until the matter of your guilt or innocence can be settled. There's a warrant out for your arrest." Roland cleared his throat nervously. "I'm just relaying what they told me, sir."

"No, he can't be gone!" Seto protested angrily. Joey reached up to Seto's shoulders and turned the brunette around to face him. "He's not gone," Seto insisted, looking terribly stubborn even as some of the fighting fire left his eyes.

"Wherever he is, I promise you that Mokuba is safe and well cared for," Joey murmured kissing Seto's cheek softly. "You'll see him again soon, okay?"

"They can't… they can't take him away," Seto sobbed as he held Joey as tightly as he could. "They can't do that…"

Joey didn't know what to say. It had already been done: Mokuba was gone. The police had already taken him and would find a place for him to stay until this whole matter was at an end. It wasn't fair, but it was what they had to deal with.

Roland cleared his throat, and spoke up hesitantly: "Master Kaiba, sir, if you would like, my wife and I could petition the authorities for temporary custodianship of your brother. I believe they'd agree that a degree of familiarity during this ordeal would be beneficial for him." He spoke in a calm, business-like tone, but that was how he always talked, with his employer, at least.

Joey thought that Roland's calm state was probably a peripheral comfort to Seto, who'd nodded faintly in answer.

"Yes, thank you, Roland. We really appreciate the offer. I'm sure Mokuba would prefer that to a family of strangers," Joey said as he continued to hold Seto, answering on his behalf. Roland nodded and stepped into the hallway to call his wife and let her know.

"I've worked so hard to keep him out of the foster care system," Seto whispered. "He'll be miserable if they take him away for good."

"I know, Seto, I know," Joey murmured, wrapping his arms tightly around his lover as his own heart ached. This was possibly the single worst thing that anybody could do to Seto. Did they know how much they were hurting him? Seto held Joey in his arms as tightly as he could as he cried out his sorrow.

Joey did persuade Seto to turn himself in that afternoon, and while the whole process was grueling for both of them, Joey still thought it was a better option than becoming fugitives and sending someone to kidnap Mokuba back. That did fix the problem of his separation from Mokuba in the short-term, but it didn't clear his name or the arrest warrant. As scared as Joey was, he was able to keep a cool head throughout the whole business, which was more than could be said for Seto, who'd been sentenced to house arrest until the trial.

The instant he and Joey got home that night, he disappeared off to who knew where. Joey thought he just needed space to let out his frustrations. After all, he'd been going around like a dark storm-cloud all day long, ready to strike even the slightest irritant with deadly lightning. After an hour of not seeing him, Joey decided to track him down. He was afraid of what he might do to himself. He asked the servants if they'd seen him, and finally found someone who'd spotted him entering the wine cellar. Joey hadn't even known that the mansion _had_ a wine cellar. That must be Gozaburo's doing.

Seto was drunk when Joey found him, which made the blond's heart ache, but he couldn't say that he blamed him. Much. At least he was drinking wine and not tequila or scotch or any other hard liquor. Drunk was something Joey could handle. Drunk and sick was another story. Joey sat next to Seto on the floor and eased the bottle out of his hand, taking a sip of it himself before he passed it back to him.

"I should have spent more time with him," Seto muttered, tears streaming down his face, before he took another swig. "I was a horrible brother…"

"You're a good brother, Seto," Joey said quietly, taking the bottle from Seto again and taking a gulp of the incredibly expensive alcohol. "It's not your fault that there are mean people out there."

"But it is my fault, isn't it?" Seto muttered as he reached for the bottle again, but Joey held it out of his reach.

"No, it's _not_ your fault," Joey said firmly, giving his boyfriend a hard look.

"But _I'm_ the one who pushed people away and made them hate me. I'm the one who made so many enemies for myself, enemies willing to hurt me by hurting my brother," Seto said, tears filling his bloodshot eyes again. "I can't undo that, no matter how much I wish I could."

"But we can make this better," Joey said gently, giving Seto a small smile. Seto looked at him with confusion, then reached for the wine bottle again, only to have Joey pull it away yet again.

"I thought you said we would make this better?" Seto accused, starting to pout.

"Alcohol does not make this better," Joey said stubbornly, standing up and helping Seto to do the same. "I'm getting you to bed now so that you can sleep it off."

"I don't want to sleep," Seto grumbled, but he was exhausted enough that he couldn't fight the blond who put his arm around his shoulders and guided him back upstairs and back to his own bedroom. Joey helped Seto over to the bed, where the brunette collapsed on top of the covers, half asleep already. Joey helped him undress so that he could sleep more comfortably, tucking him into bed and holding him close, even though the scent of the alcohol repelled him, reminding him of his alcoholic father. Seto needed him now more than ever.

* * *

Seto awoke the next morning with a massive headache, among other things. It didn't help that Joey had opened the curtains wide, letting in as much light as possible. He groaned and pulled a pillow over his head, but Joey yanked the pillow away.

"Wake up, Seto," he snapped, making the brunette open one bloodshot eye to glare at him.

"I'm tryin' ta sleep," he grumbled.

"No you're not, not anymore," Joey said sternly. "I let you get drunk last night, Seto, but that's the last time I'm giving you a pass on behavior like that. Got it?" Seto blinked at him dumbly. "You're going to pull yourself together and handle this in a way that will make Mokuba proud to call you his brother."

Seto breathed deeply and sighed. "Okay, you're right. I'm not doing that again, but can you please close the curtains and bring me some Advil." He pulled another pillow on top of his head and Joey chuckled.

"Hangovers aren't fun, are they?" he commented as he complied with Seto's requests. "Remember this next time you think about getting drunk."

* * *

One of the terms of his house arrest was that Seto wasn't allowed to see Mokuba at all. No face to face contact whatsoever, not even over video-chat. While Seto worked with some lawyers on their court case, Joey wheedled with the police officers until he got permission for Seto to talk to Mokuba on the phone. He hoped it would help Seto get through this ordeal without completely falling apart.

Seto wasn't eating well, wasn't sleeping well. He was always stressed and Joey struggled to get him into bed at all at night. Joey remembered what it was like when he lost his mother and Serenity, so he knew what he was going through—to a degree. Joey hadn't been accused of hurting his sister.

"Seto, there's someone on the phone for you," Joey said as he handed his cell to a sour-looking Seto who was picking at his lunch without eating much of anything.

Seto, without much genuine interest, looked up and accepted the phone from him, putting it to his ear and saying, "Hello?" He started as he heard Mokuba's voice, tears springing to his eyes as he jumped to his feet. "Mokuba! How are you? Are you doing alright?" He sounded more positive than Joey had heard him since that fateful day. He stepped out into the hallway to continue the call, more pleased to hear his brother's voice than he'd ever been before.

He was talking to Mokuba for almost an hour, during which time Joey helped himself to Seto's cooling food. When Seto came back, he pulled Joey up from his seat and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you for doing that," he murmured. "You don't know how much that means to me."

"I think I have a pretty good idea, though," Joey answered with a smile, giving Seto a brief kiss. He wished that Seto had the energy to be intimate these days; the withdrawal was starting to take its toll on Joey.

"I'll make it up to you tonight, I promise." Seto's eyes were a bit apologetic as he released Joey and turned back to the table. "Hey! You ate my food!"

"It was getting cold," Joey answered with a shrug.

"And just when I was starting to get hungry, too."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All translations acquired from Google.

It did turn out to be his aunt and uncle who'd reported him for child abuse, and while those charges probably wouldn't stick, his lawyers had pointed out that he didn't need to get convicted for him to lose his little brother for good. All they had to do was prove that was an unfit guardian, and his aunt and uncle would get full guardianship of Mokuba, just as they'd petitioned along with the charge.

The first day in court, after four months of compiling their cases during which the Kaiba brothers were forbidden from seeing each other, was a media circus, a total nightmare for Seto. He was relieved that the court-date had finally arrived, which meant that something would finally be decided, but at the same time, this was his chance to screw things up, and he was afraid that he would no matter how hard he tried not to. He'd already missed Mokuba's twelfth birthday; he didn't want to miss anymore of his brother's life.

The worst part of it all was that Mokuba had been barred from giving any sort of testimony in court. So much was going wrong in all of this that Seto wished he could blame it on a conspiracy, but he had no evidence for one. Yet.

Although the number of press allowed in the court-room had been limited, it was still far too many for his taste. He couldn't help but notice that the number of people who'd shown up to support him was dismally small, composed primarily of Yugi and the dweeb patrol.

 _Alright, show time,_ he thought to himself as he approached the witness stand. _Don't screw this up._

"What is your name?"

"Seto Kaiba." The lawyer sighed slightly.

"And what is your _real_ name?" the prosecutor persisted, trying to clarify his intentions.

"That _is_ my real name." Seto smirked, and a wave of suppressed chuckles rippled through the audience.

"And what name is on your birth certificate, Mr. Kaiba?" He was irked, feeling like the defendant was trying to make a fool of him. Seto's smirk faded.

"Seto Sasaki," he answered grudgingly, speaking the last name of his birth family for the first time in years. He ignored the whispers that fluttered through the audience, pretending that the rumors which would be circulating by the end of his questioning wouldn't bother him at all.

"And your mother was Sayuri Nakamura Sasaki, correct?"

"Yes."

"And she was the sister of Mr. Nakamura"—he gestured to Seto's uncle with a nod—"correct?"

"How is this relevant?" Seto snapped, something trembling deep inside him. Joey winced, knowing that Seto's aggression was only born of anguish. Seto missed his mother deeply, which was why he never spoke of her. The brief period of his life before she died was the happiest time he'd ever known, free of stress and sorrow and fear and pain.

"Answer the question, Mr. Kaiba," the judge chastised with a surly expression, as if he could tell that Kaiba was going to be one of the more difficult witnesses in this whole case.

"Yes," Seto said with a sigh, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair in a defensive manner that made his adviser sigh with exasperation.

"And is it true that Mr. and Mrs. Nakamura took you and your little brother in when your father, Satoshi Sasaki, passed away?"

"Yes." Seto's eyes burned as he imagined himself annihilating the stuffy lawyer with his Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon's neutron blast. It was the only thing keeping him from making another outburst.

"And did they not treat you fairly and kindly while you were in their care?" Finally, a chance for Seto to actually _say_ something.

"No, they did not." He straightened up a little as he felt the urge to speak against them swell up inside him. As much as he wished to ruin their credibility, it was still difficult for him to say anything at all on the subject of his childhood. "They treated us like the outsiders we were, an unwelcome intrusion into their lives. They didn't even pretend to consider us as family, let alone care for us like we were their own sons, as they would have you believe."

"And what facts do you have to support this claim? What specific events lead you to this conclusion?" the prosecutor asked. Seto grit his teeth, wondering if the damned lawyer knew that he was putting his witness through hell all over again by asking him that question. If he knew, he certainly didn't care. Well, Seto couldn't get away with not answering the question, so he did the best that he could.

"When Mokuba broke a china plate, they sent him to bed without dinner for a whole week."

"Yes, but what did they do to _you_?" the prosecutor interrupted. Seto sat back, his jaw clenched tightly as he stubbornly held his tongue. The silence stretched out uncomfortably, restless audience members shifting in their seats, whispering their speculations to those around them.

After what felt like an eternity to Seto, the defense attorney finally spoke up: "Objection, Your Honor. This is putting my client through psychological distress. I would like to request a brief recess."

"Sustained," the judge ruled, already looking fed up with the whole lot of them. He banged his gavel and said, "The court shall take a twenty minute recess."

The prosecutor, with a look of triumph, said, looking straight at Kaiba, "Then the prosecution rests, for now."

Yugi glanced at his friends with a look of concern as they stood. "Why do you think he didn't answer his question?"

"I think he doesn't have anything substantive to bring against them. Like, they may not have been nice people, but they didn't actually do anything that bad," Tristan answered, almost dismissively.

"But his lawyer called it 'psychological distress,'" Tea protested, looking thoroughly confused by all of this.

"She just said that to bail him out," Tristan explained. Yugi wasn't comfortable with Tristan's explanation, and looked back at Seto, who was now striding along the perimeter of the room as he approached the door, escorted by his irritated attorney. Joey had already left his seat and was working his way past the press to reach his boyfriend. Yugi thought it odd that Joey had refrained from commenting on the matter. Odd, unless it was something personal that he didn't wish to share.

"I think it has to be more than that," Yugi said suddenly, making the both of them turn to look at him. "I mean, it makes sense that if he was mistreated as a child, it would be hard to talk about. Don't you think?" Grudgingly, Tristan agreed, but he didn't seem to accept the real possibility that Kaiba could have been mistreated when he was young. He simply couldn't imagine Kaiba as anything other than he was: an arrogant, rich, stoic adult who was always either smirking or scowling.

* * *

"Try another stunt like that, and they'll arrest you for being held in contempt of the court, which will _not_ make them look favorably upon your defense!" Seto's attorney was chewing him out when Joey entered their meeting room, going straight for his boyfriend and hugging him tightly. Seto returned the hug before releasing him and addressing his lawyer again.

"What you're forgetting is that _they_ have the burden of proof, not us. _They_ need to prove that I'm an unfit guardian, _not_ the other way around. Their line of questioning is irrelevant."

"But they could use your childhood trauma _against you_ and say that it makes you unfit, especially if it's had any long-lasting effects on you!" she pointed out rather aggressively. "Judging by your performance out there, I'm assuming that it has, so it would work to _our_ advantage if we had all questions about your mental stability cleared up with a psychological evaluation."

"Hell no!" Seto protested, Joey putting a soothing arm around him. The lawyer sighed in frustration and turned away for a moment while Joey tried to talk some sense into the stubborn brunette.

"Calm down, Seto," he said gently. "Nobody thinks you're crazy or unstable. But not everybody knows you as well as I do, so not everybody can tell."

"A psych eval would work really well in our favor if you're as stable as you claim you are," his sassy lawyer pointed out.

Seto looked at Joey with uncertainty, and Joey didn't understand why at first.

"I may not be stable, but it certainly hasn't affected Mokuba," he said quietly.

"You're _not_ unstable," Joey insisted as the lawyer became exasperated. "You're coping after having gone through hell, and you're doing a fine job of it."

"Alright, I did _not_ just hear that," she declared, washing her hands of both of them. "If anybody asks, you two were speaking too quietly for me to hear you." She pulled out her cell pone and started looking through her contacts. "I'll get you the number of the psychologist I know. He can help us with this, ma chérie." She left the room with Joey watching her in admiration.

"Where'd you get _her_?"

"Caroline Julian? The U.S. I only pay for the best lawyers."

* * *

The rest of the first day went fairly miserably. Today was the day that the geek squad was called up as character witnesses. They'd been drilled by Seto's lawyers, but apparently, it didn't make much difference to their performance.

"Kaiba cares about his brother more than anything or anyone else," Tristan answered. "He once even threatened suicide when he thought he wouldn't be able to get Mokuba back."

Seto ground his teeth as he barely restrained himself from smashing his head against the table in frustration.

"Is that so?" the prosecutor said, a smile in his voice that mad Seto glare at him all the more. "So, Mr. Kaiba has exhibited suicidal tendencies before?"

It was all Seto could do to keep himself from shouting a protest that he was _not_ suicidal and never had been. Joey noticed his hands balling into fists as he crossed his arms, and he wished that he could be closer to Seto to comfort him.

"Well, I'm not sure if I would say he was suicidal," Tristan said, looking uncertain. "It was more like he couldn't stand the thought of living without him. You see, Pegasus had kidnapped Mokuba and threatened to hold him captive permanently unless Kaiba could beat Yugi in a duel and then beat Pegasus in a duel as well. He was going to win, but then Yugi turned the tables on him and he realized it was hopeless. Well, they were dueling on the roof, and when Yugi was about to win, Kaiba stood on the edge so that if Yugi attacked him, he'd go over the edge, and it would be Yugi's fault."

"I see," the prosecutor said, looking devious. "And did you believe that he would stay on that ledge and not seek to save himself if Yugi had attacked?"

"Well, yeah," Tristan answered, making Joey wince. Even he could see how this was hurting their case. "He was dead serious about it."

"Thank you, Mr. Taylor. The prosecution rests." Seto began to grumble German under his breath, and Yugi could just make out some of the words from where he sat behind him.

"Scheisse. Verdammt in die Hölle und zurück, versuchen Sie, mich zu schrauben über? Dummkopf. Scheisse," the executive growled, his accent flawless.

"Are you cursing in German?" Joey asked in a faint whisper, impressed. The very nature of his reaction was enough to make Seto's temper simmer down, if just a little, as Seto turned softening eyes on him and nodded slightly.

"You've seen my library. Did you think those books were just for show?"

"Well, yeah," Joey admitted with a faint blush. "I didn't realize you could actually read them all, let alone speak in those languages." Joey noticed then that the judge was throwing a glare their way, and he shut himself up.


	5. Disturbance

Seto was incredibly frustrated when they got home that night and went straight to his office to work as a means of getting his mind off of things. He would have stayed in there all night probably if Joey hadn't come and threatened not to go to sleep until Seto did the same thing. Even when he was in bed with Joey, though, he couldn't sleep a wink. Fear gripped his heart as it sank in that there was a very real possibility that he would never see his little brother again.

Joey awoke in the middle of the night feeling cold. He lifted his head, looked over at the other half of the bed, and saw that it was empty, the covers thrown back. Where was Seto? He sat up and looked around, and when that gave him no clue as to where Seto was, he stood and started to cross the room to get his robe from Seto's closet before leaving to check his home office, but redirected his path when he saw the tall, lanky silhouette just outside the window beside the bed. Seto was standing on the balcony staring out into the night, and Joey let out a small sigh of premature relief as he opened the glass door and stepped out onto the balcony to join his lover. The first thing he noticed was the scent of nicotine and smoke, making him wrinkle his nose in disgust. He snatched the lit cigarette out of Seto's hand and extinguished it against the wall of his house before dropping it into the shrubbery below, making Seto cry out in protest.

"Save it," Joey snapped, now angry with Seto. "Since when do you smoke?"

"Only rarely." Seto scowled. "I bought the pack a year ago and this was only my fifth one." He crossed his arms and leaned against the edge of the mansion's siding, refusing to look at Joey, who was severely pissed off.

"You expect me to believe that?" the blond said a bit too loudly. "Nicotine is a drug just like any other, and it's addictive!"

"You think I don't _know_ that?!" Seto started to raise his voice as well, feeling like his integrity and intelligence were under attack. "You forget that I have more self-control than the average man. I can handle it."

"No, you can't!" Joey shouted, his face turning red. "Addiction isn't about willpower, it's about your body starting to crave something poisonous whether you want it to or not!"

"I'm not a child, so stop treating me like one!"

"I will when you stop acting like an idiot!"

"Underdog!"

"Rich boy!"

"Mutt!"

"Moneybags!"

"I hate you!"

"I hate you a slightly larger amount!"

Joey left the balcony, both of them furious with each other. Joey got back into bed with his back in Seto's direction. Seto soon reentered the room only to leave immediately, slamming the door behind him as he made his way to the garden behind the mansion. He pulled out a new cigarette and lit it as he stared out into the wooded darkness, taking a drag and coughing a little.

He didn't truly enjoy smoking, but sometimes, it was the only thing that could relax him. He only used them on nights like this, when his heart beat so rapidly he thought it would burst from his chest, and he couldn't get to sleep no matter how tired he was.

He'd tried anti-anxiety medications. The SSRIs had worked for a few months, but then they'd just stopped, and no safe increase in dosage could make them effective again. The beta blockers had caused an allergic reaction, the tricyclic antidepressants hadn't worked at all, and the MAOIs were not worth the price he'd paid in side effects. The benzodiazepines, while effective, had been way too addictive for Seto, and he'd quit them after less than a week. He didn't want to take the risk that he became dependent on them, not when he had a company to run and a brother to protect and enemies to fend off. He'd resigned himself to the fact that no real medications would be able to help him with his anxiety and learned to cope with it on his own, so if he needed six cigarettes in the course of a year to help him get through the worst of times, then he wasn't going to apologize for it, even if he was underage.

He took another drag and coughed again. The smoke itself was the worst part for him. It reminded him too much of Gozaburo's Cuban cigars. He'd always hated those. He would have switched to e-cigarettes, but he was afraid that he would enjoy them too much, and that was still a risk he couldn't take, not with a company to run and a brother to win back and a boyfriend to hold onto. Somehow, he needed to keep Joey from leaving, even after a fight like that. If he lost Joey too, he didn't know how he'd survive.

Meanwhile, Joey cried hot tears of anger into his pillow, beating his fist into the mattress every time his frustration resurged. This was his first real fight with Seto since they'd become a couple, and while he'd known that it would happen eventually, he'd had no idea that it would feel so awful as this.

* * *

It was a little after five in the morning when Seto finally returned to his bedroom. He'd finished off his cigarette, then spent the night wandering the mansion and the grounds, just thinking. Eventually, he'd ended up at the kitchen, managed to make himself a cup of coffee—the quality was questionable, but it was still coffee—and then slowly dragged himself back to his room. He set his coffee on the counter in the bathroom and took a quick shower, hoping that it would help him clear his head. He wasn't sure if it did, but it did ease his headache a bit. Ever since Mokuba had been taken away, he couldn't remember being without a headache. He would've taken something for it, except that a life without pain was, at the moment, too pleasant a thing for someone like him to experience, so he told himself. If he'd been so careless as to allow such a thing like this to happen, then he deserved the pain. Besides, the headaches, just like his former cutting and his sex with Joey, helped him feel alive in their own sick way.

When he reentered his room wearing a bathrobe, Joey was in the process of waking up. Apparently, the sound of the shower had woken him prematurely. They stared at each other in silence for a few moments, both guarded and pensive.

"I'm sorry I woke you," Seto said quietly, taking a sip of his coffee.

"No, it's fine, I was already awake," Joey responded in a similar manner, looking uncomfortable.

"How did you sleep last night?"

"Not very well. You?"

"Not at all."

After a moment of awkward silence, Joey said hesitantly, "Seto, can we please… talk about what happened last night?" He looked incredibly unsure of himself.

"That… sounds like a good idea," Seto admitted slowly. He didn't want this lingering between them when they were in court, otherwise his focus would be divided and he'd be incapable of doing his absolute best to get his brother back. Joey stumbled out of bed and walked over to Seto, hanging his head dejectedly.

"Seto, I-I'm sorry for what I said last night. I didn't mean it, not any of it," he apologized, looking almost scared in the half-light of the room. That alone sent a twinge of guilt through Seto as he realized that even his lover feared him.

"I'm sorry too," he sighed. "I didn't mean what I said either, but I don't really blame you for reacting the way you did. I know I've been a pain to live with lately, and it can't be easy for you. I understand where you're coming from, and it's okay—"

"It's _not_ okay!" Joey interrupted as he burst into tears. "I treated you like absolute crap, and—"

"I believe I treated you in an equally crappy manner," Seto murmured steadily as he stepped forward to put his arm around Joey and pull him close, letting the blond cry into his shoulder.

"But, but—" Joey spluttered, feeling like he needed to further incriminate himself, but Seto shushed him gently.

"It's _okay_ , Joey: we were both in the wrong but we both feel bad about it, so it won't happen again." He rubbed Joey's back as his partner sniffled and brought his tears under control. "Here, have some coffee," he said, offering the other his own mug.

"Why?"

"Because you're not you when you're tired," Seto explained. Joey accepted the mug and took a sip.

"Feel better?"

"That's awful! What did you put in this?"

"Coffee grinds and water. That's all that goes into coffee, right?"

Joey just shook his head sadly.

"One of these days, I really need to teach you how to make coffee."

"Fine then, if you're not going to drink it—" Seto said, taking the mug back and draining it of its contents.

"How can you even drink that?" Joey said in exasperation, which Seto just answered with a chuckle as he set the mug down on top of his dresser so that he could embrace Joey with both arms. Joey leaned against him as he breathed deeply to calm himself, inhaling Seto's clean, masculine scent and enjoying every moment of it.

"Oh, I forgot something," Seto muttered, releasing Joey as he moved away to the closet. Joey followed him a few feet and watched from the doorway as Seto pulled the lighter and the pack of cigarettes out of the pocket of his coat from last night and dumped them in a lockbox that Joey had never seen before. Seto locked it with a small, simple key, one that hung on a long, thin chain. Seto shoved the lockbox onto an incredibly high shelf then held out the key to Joey.

"Can you please hold onto this for me? I usually ask Mokuba to do it, but…"

Joey, feeling touched at the gesture of trust and guilty for his accusations last night, stepped forward and accepted the key, putting the chain around his neck before he threw himself at Kaiba again, tearing up once more.

"Ach, what did I do this time?" Seto said, flustered. "I hate it when you cry, Joey…"

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. They held each other for another few moments before Joey broke the silence again. "You let your little brother keep the key for your cigarettes?"

"He doesn't know what it's _for_ , silly," Seto replied, rolling his eyes. "How stupid do you think I am? Besides, even if he did know what it was for, there's no way he could find the box, let alone reach it."

"How long am I supposed to hold onto this anyway?"

"No less than a month," Seto answered immediately. That was always the deal he had with Mokuba. "Not even if I ask for it." It was the fail-safe system he'd set up for himself so that he couldn't even _begin_ to get addicted to them.

"If Mokuba usually has it, then how did you—?"

"He left it in his room."

Silence as the two remembered quite vividly that the sunny, optimistic child was painfully absent from their lives.

"Come on, you might as well shower now, you scruffy puppy," Seto said briskly, making Joey yelp in protest.

"I am _not_ a puppy! How would you like it if I called you a dragon?" One look at Seto's face told him _exactly_ how Seto felt about it, and Joey grumbled, "You fucking _love_ it, don't you?"

"Hm, I don't know, try it next time we're in bed and see what happens." Seto spoke in that low, dusky voice of his that sent chills down Joey's spine as he leaned forward to playfully nibble Joey's ear. Joey made a small sound of pleasure and held Seto close as the brunette pressed his closed lips to Joey's neck in a chaste kiss.

It was actually the most intimate moment they'd had in a long time. Between his company, his court-hearing, and his pining for his little brother, Seto's libido had suffered significantly. Not that Joey's hadn't as well; after all, he was far less accustomed to handling stress than Seto was, and this was a huge amount to swallow all at once. He had to pick up the slack whenever Seto's distracted mind dropped the ball, and it was taking its toll on him as well. Seto wrapped both arms around Joey and held him as close as physically possible, greedily crushing his lover to himself.

"God, I've missed you, Joey."

"I've missed you too, Seto," he choked out with a smile.

Who would have thought that a fight would be the thing to bring them back together?


	6. Fugitive

Seto's lawyer had petitioned the judge for a brief break in the case to allow for Seto's psychological evaluation. Seto hated that this was necessary, but since Ms. Julian had flown in the FBI psychologist from America, he was willing to go along with it, if only out of courtesy to him.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Kaiba, my name is Dr. Lance Sweets," the young psychologist said as he extended his hand.

Seto shook it politely—being the CEO of a major corporation meant that you had to shake a lot of people's hands, so he was used to it—and they sat down across from each other in Seto's massive library, the place Seto had chosen for this interview to happen.

"For once, I won't have someone making cracks about my age," Dr. Sweets said jovially, trying to put Seto at ease. When he received no response, he began to elaborate, "You see, people usually have difficulty believing that I have multiple PhDs because I'm so young—"

"I could call you grandpa if it makes you feel better." Seto smirked.

"That won't be necessary. Now, Mr. Kaiba—do you mind if I call you Seto?"

"It's my name, isn't it?" Sweets took Seto's blaise answer as a yes.

"So, Seto, as I understand it, you've been accused of abusing your little brother"—Seto's eyes narrowed at the doctor—"and your aunt and uncle are petitioning for guardianship of him. I'm here to determine two things: if you're mentally stable, and if you're psychologically capable of abusing your little brother."

Seto slouched and scowled at the psychologist, who continued talking without acknowledging his patient's bad attitude.

"I took the liberty of watching your recorded duels while I was en route to Japan and have developed a preliminary profile of you for the court, which you can read at your own leisure, if you wish. Profiles, however, can only tell us so much, so I'm going to start asking you some questions, and I want you to give me a direct, honest answer. Do you think you can do that?"

"I _can_ ," Seto retorted. "Whether I will is another story." Sweets rolled his eyes, but decided to let it go for now.

"You and your brother are five years apart in age, correct?'

"Yes."

"What's your brother's first name?"

"Mokuba."

"What's your favorite Duel Monsters card?"

"The Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Duh."

"How old were you when you were adopted by Gozaburo Kaiba?"

"Don't you have access to that information yourself?" Seto asked dubiously.

"Yes, but—"

"Then this is pointless." Seto made to stand up, but Sweets' next words stopped him.

"Seto, if you don't go through with this, the prosecution _will_ assume the worst of you."

Seto grudgingly sat back down, crossing his arms with a sour look on his face.

"How old were you when you were adopted by Gozaburo Kaiba?"

"Eleven."

"And how did he treat you and your brother when you came to live with him?"

It was the first question that made Seto pause. His scowl morphed into a frown as he stared down at the dark wood of the coffee table. "No one's ever asked that before," he said quietly.

 _Jackpot_ , Sweets thought. "I take it that he didn't treat you well, then?"

"For the most part, he treated Mokuba well," he answered evasively, staring off to the side as if by avoiding eye contact he could avoid this conversation entirely.

"And how did he treat _you_?" It was so similar to the question the prosecutor had asked him that his temper flared in a sudden outburst.

"This isn't about me!" he snapped. "This is about getting my brother back."

Seto Kaiba was even more defensive than he'd expected him to be. Sweets let out a long breath, then tried a new tact. "This isn't the first time you and your brother have been separated. He's been abducted multiple times, according to my records. Would you like to talk about that?"

"No, I _don't_ want to talk about it!" Seto had started raising his voice at the psychologist, who now sat back in his seat as he watched the teenage executive. "You know what _I_ want to talk about?" he shouted as he stood from the plush leather couch. "I want to know why it seems like people have been trying to separate us our whole lives! It happened at the orphanage, it happened with Gozaburo, it still happens now that I run KaibaCorp." His rage was rather expressive as he enumerated the circumstances under which he and Mokuba had faced at least the threat of separation. "And why the _fuck_ would I ever want to hurt him?! Could somebody please tell me that? Why would people believe that I would hurt him when he's the only reason I'm still alive?!" He sank into the couch with a sigh before resting his head in his hands, his fingers splayed to hide his face as he started to cry.

"What do you mean when you say that he's the only reason you're still alive?" Sweets asked quietly after a few moments.

"Gozaburo Kaiba was a hard man to please," he said bitterly. It was the same thing he'd told Joey that fateful day when he'd rescued him from himself. "He demanded a lot from me, far more than was reasonable, and when I couldn't achieve the insane goals he set for me, he punished me." He fell silent, not wanting to say anymore, but he had the nagging feeling that he would have to, so before Sweets could ask another question, he continued, "The lessons themselves were abusive. You can't blame me for struggling with them when he held that damned riding crop above my head at all times. And, the collar…" He still couldn't bring himself to talk in detail about that, simply pulled down the collar of his turtleneck and showed the psychologist the scars that the collar's chafing had left behind.

"Mokuba is the only reason I didn't give up. He gave me something to strive for. He gave me hope. At that age, I couldn't have withstood Gozaburo's abuse simply for my own sake. He gave me a reason to live. I survived for his sake."

Sweet thought for a bit before he asked, "Do you have any other scars?"

"Yes."

"Do you mind showing me?"

"Yes." Seto had gotten himself under control again by this point, having dried his eyes and cheeks with a tissue, though his eyes were still red as he glared at the doctor. "I do mind. I don't want to."

"I was a foster child myself, Seto," Lance said suddenly. "When I was young, my foster parents whipped me. I have scars too."

The troubled executive thought that over for a few moments. "You show me yours, I'll show you mine," he muttered at last. He wasn't truly curious about the doctor himself, but he _was_ curious to get a measure of what his own abuse had been compared to others.

They exchanged scars, and Lance went first, the scars centralized on his shoulder blades. When Seto turned around and lifted his shirt by the hem, he was careful to reveal the scars on his back in their entirety.

"Wow."

That was all Seto needed in order to know that his own abuse had been atypically brutal. Just his luck. Seto let out a breath and pulled his shirt back down, feeling uncomfortable.

"You know, if we presented some evidence of your abuse to the court, it would really help your case."

"You mean let someone take a picture of my scars? Hell no."

From that point forward, Seto argued with the psychologist about presenting evidence of his abuse to the court, whether it be in the form of photographs of his scars or x-rays of bones that Gozaburo had broken. Eventually, Seto reached the end of his rope and was about to leave when Sweets insisted he stay so that they could talk about other things. He gradually teased out of Seto a confession to his cutting—that he had quit almost completely—and his anxiety, at which point Seto had to explain to Sweets why he wasn't on medication for it. They talked about a lot of things, and it took a lot longer than he'd expected. By the end of it all, Seto just wanted a familiar face. He wanted Joey and Mokuba, and it hurt knowing that Mokuba wasn't here anymore.

But Joey was still here, and he glomped Seto as soon as he stepped out of the library.

"You've been in there for hours, and I was starting to get worried about you," Joey whined, embracing Seto tightly. Seto hugged him in return, just sighing and closing his eyes as he enjoyed Joey's closeness. He didn't want to ever let go, and Joey seemed content with that plan.

Lance Sweets edged his way out of the doorway around the two, leaving without another word as he went to rejoin Seto's lawyers.

"Are you okay?" Joey whispered, worried that Seto was upset from his talk with the psychologist.

"Don't let go," was all he got in return, the words soft and sad. Joey held Seto even more tightly, resting his head against Seto's, blond and brown hair intermingling.

* * *

"Seto Kaiba is not psychologically capable of abusing his brother. To the untrained eye he may seem like an arrogant, unscrupulous businessman willing to crush anyone or anything that stands in his way, but once you penetrate the outer surface of a recovering superiority complex and a solid defense of cold, hard logic, you find a scared little kid. A kid who's been orphaned and abandoned and abused. A kid who's been exploited and betrayed throughout his whole life to the point where he fully trusts no one but himself and is resistant to any and all attempts at friendship or association. As such, his occupation, centered around business and technology, is a perfect fit for him, allowing him to thrive to such a degree that you would never suspect that he's so deeply scarred, physically, emotionally, and psychologically. His ambition fuels his drive for success, but that ambition was initially derived from the powerful desire to protect and care for his little brother. To harm his brother would be suicide, and Seto Kaiba is not suicidal. As such, he has never abused his brother and should be cleared of all charges." Sweets had been reading from his write-up of the session he'd had with the young corporation president, and he put the paper down on the table with his other observations when he finished, waiting for a reaction.

"And you believe that?" Ms. Julian asked.

"Yes, I really do," Dr. Sweets answered. "But we have a problem."

"Of course we do."

"He told me to refrain from mentioning his childhood abuse at all, and if they ask, he wanted me to claim doctor-patient confidentiality."

"You can do that, right cher?"

"Well, I could, but it would hurt our case for us to not be forthcoming with the full truth," Sweets pointed out. "However, he refused to submit any evidence of his abuse, not even childhood x-rays. If Dr. Brennan were here, we could make enough of a case out of the x-rays alone and then we'd be fine, but…" He shook his head dubiously. "His credibility as a witness was already called into question when he refused to answer the prosecutor yesterday. I tried to convince him that it was best for him to give us evidence, but he won't listen to me. Maybe if you talked to him, Ms. Julian, you could convince him."

That was exactly what Seto's lawyer attempted to do, but Seto got frustrated and told her to give him half an hour to think about it, then he'd come to her with an answer. That's what led Joey and Seto to be in Seto's office together, talking over their options.

"Apparently, they think it's necessary to prove that I was abused in order for them to believe that I didn't abuse Mokuba," Seto said, raking a hand through his brunette locks as he stared out the window.

"It seems like there are two ways to do that: by showing them what was done to you, or by showing them what it was done with. Or both. So, three ways, I guess," Joey observed.

None of this sounded at all pleasant to Seto. He was a private person, and while this whole trial had strained him, this part was pushing him especially close to his breaking point. They wanted him to show his x-rays and his scars. He hadn't told them yet, but when he'd inherited everything from Gozaburo, he'd locked up the room where they'd had their lessons. It still contained the unwashed whip and the collar that had been strapped so tightly around his neck so many times that he wouldn't be surprised if his DNA were still embedded in it. It was too much to ask of him.

This request concerned Joey as well, not only because he knew how hard that would be on Seto. "Isn't there that statistic, though," he began hesitantly from where he sat on an arm-chair in the far corner of the room.

"What statistic?" Seto asked, a bit more sharply than he intended, as he turned around to face the other teen.

"I don't know where the evidence is for it, or if there is any," Joey began apologetically. "But it's one of those statistics that people hear and believe."

"What statistic?" Seto asked again, trying to stifle a feeling of dread.

"The statistic that people who are abused as children are most likely to abuse children themselves." Joey sipped his coffee, hiding his face behind the large mug as Seto turned and kicked the wall in anger.

"Damn, you're right," he growled. "Even though case studies defy general statistics all the time, that'll hold more sway with the jury. All the prosecutor has to do is bring it up in cross-ex and _that_ is what's going to stay in the jury's mind, despite anything that psychologist says." He needed another way out of this, but he didn't seem to have one. Was there anything else from his talk with Sweets that could help him? He reviewed it mentally as he resumed pacing. They both thought in silence for a little while before Seto got an idea.

Joey could tell that he'd gotten an idea because he stopped pacing and stared at the wall with that analytical stare of his. Then he rushed over to his desk and opened one of the drawers, thumbing through the folders as he looked for something very specific.

"You look like you've got a plan," Joey commented with a small smile. Seeing Seto act with purpose again was a good sign. "Care to share with the class?"

"Instead of trying to prove something about me that _might_ persuade the jury that I'm not capable of what they're accusing me of doing, it makes much more sense to just prove to them that I haven't." He found what he was looking for, then began making copies of the pages from the file.

"How do you plan on doing that?" Joey asked curiously.

"By overwhelming them with character witnesses," Seto answered, glancing up at Joey. "If they won't believe what I say about myself, then they'll believe what others say about me. Do you mind giving your testimony right after Ryou and Yugi tomorrow?"

"Not at all," Joey answered with a reassuring smile. "I'll testify as much as you need me to."

"You'll answer anything they ask you?" Seto asked, needing to be sure.

"Of course," Joey assured. "Anything to get Mokuba back."

Seto took out a highlighter and skimmed over the copies, highlighting several rows of text on each of the several pages. He slipped the copies into a new folder and put the original away before crossing the room and stopping by Joey to kiss his forehead.

"Thank you. This should only take five minutes, then maybe we could relax in the hot tub, if you want?"

Joey perked up immediately at that, his cheeks already turning pink. "Are you sure that your lawyers won't need you for the rest of the day?"

"Quite sure. This will keep them busy," he answered, holding up the file. "I'll meet you back at our room."

* * *

Seto returned to the room in his mansion where he'd stationed his lawyers. They were all looking disgruntled when Seto entered and tossed the file onto the table.

"That contains a list of names and contact information," he said without introduction. "I want you to call the names I highlighted on this list and get them here to testify as character witnesses. Calling them up should take the rest of the afternoon, for the which I will be unavailable. When you get them on the stands, just ask them how they met me, and their testimonies will do the rest." He turned to Sweets at that moment, and continued, "You can submit your psychological analysis as evidence, but we're not going to pursue that line of inquiry too deeply, and we sure as hell aren't going to give them evidence that I was abused. _They_ are the prosecution and _they_ bear the burden of proof, not us."

"Mr. Kaiba, I really think that it would be in your best interest if—"

"I am Seto freaking Kaiba! This is _my_ trial and we're doing this _my_ way. Just trust me." And with that, he left, turning his back on them all as he left to join Joey. It was high time he let himself take a break from all this legal nonsense.

* * *

"God, I've missed you," Joey sighed as he panted softly, Seto slumped forward against him as he hummed soft agreement. Seto was sitting on the edge of the hot tub as Joey stood inside it, his partner's long legs still wrapped loosely around him. Joey's strong hands stroked Seto's back gently as he waited for his lover to recover.

"It's unhealthy to fall asleep in a hot tub, isn't it?" Seto murmured, lifting his head a little to smile at Joey with a look of mischief in his eyes. Joey laughed out loud at that.

"I was wondering when it would finally catch up to you," the blond commented with a grin. "You're exhausted, aren't you?" He pressed his forehead against Seto's as the brunette nodded faintly. "In that case, yes, Seto, it's unhealthy to fall asleep in a hot tub." He winked at him. "How about I get you back to bed, huh?"

With his dewy eyes, damp hair, red cheeks, and sweet smile, Seto looked happier than ever before, and more beautiful.

"You're gorgeous, you know that?" Joey murmured, giving Seto a slow, full kiss before grabbing a towel from the rack (it was just barely within reach) and draping it around Seto's shoulders. He climbed out of the hot tub himself before helping Seto to do the same. He stumbled, though, and Joey caught him in his arms as he started to laugh.

"Are you alright, Seto?" he asked, starting to laugh a little himself. "You look so cute right now, I don't know how you'll possibly scare anybody in court tomorrow."

"How cute _am_ I?" Seto asked asked, in a rather silly mood at the moment.

"Cuter than Baby Dragon and Kuriboh combined," Joey answered mischievously, causing him to receive a sharp bite on his shoulder. After a moment, Seto's tongue peeked out and began to sooth the marks he'd made.

"What was that for?"

"I'm a dragon. Rawr." With the sweet, sleepy way Seto looked and sounded right now, he was far more adorable than he was threatening.

Joey chuckled and stroked that soft brown hair for a few moments longer, enjoying the intimate moments they'd both missed so dearly.

"You must be really confident about your court strategy," Joey murmured. "Because I haven't seen you this relaxed in ages."

"I am, but it's a secret," Seto answered softly, tears springing to his eyes. "Oh, Joey, I can't believe he'll be coming home after being gone so long. I'll finally get to see him again."

Joey could feel the tears splatter onto his shoulder, and he quickly lifted a corner of the towel to dab at Seto's cheek.

"Sh, don't cry, love," he whispered warmly. "You'll have plenty of time to cry when you see him again. Right now, though, you need to sleep."


	7. Testimony

The next day, the prosecution finished calling its witnesses, which included Seto's relatives. He was furious every moment he listened to them talk, but he hid it all beneath an icy calm demeanor, which wasn't new behavior for him.

The psychologist's report on Seto's state of mind was formally submitted as evidence and the psychologist was cross-examined by both sides. His argument held up fairly well, but the best it did was give them a fighting chance. The outcome was still very much unclear, especially since they failed to produce any forensic or physical evidence of Seto's childhood abuse.

Then it was the defense's turn to call witnesses of its own. Two days ago, the prosecution had called Tristan and the others onto the stand, questioning them before the defense attorney cross-examined them. Now they would get to be called to the stand and questioned by the defense attorney, giving some of them, like Tristan and Tea, a chance to redeem themselves. The order went as follows: Tea, Duke, Tristan, Ryou, Yugi, and Joey.

Seto hadn't discussed his strategy with Joey since their talk about it yesterday afternoon, but Joey had assumed that Seo was simply pulling in as many of his staff and employees that had been employed for the Kaibas and/or KaibaCorp long enough to know that he'd never hurt his brother. After all, he recognized a number of faces from the mansion's staff now sitting on the defense's side of the courtroom where there'd been empty space before. They weren't the only ones, though; more people had joined them, and they were the ones Joey assumed to be KaibaCorp employees.

As Joey was called to the stand, Seto slipped a small piece of paper into his lawyer's hand. He was successfully subtle in doing so, and Ms. Julian read the paper quickly before tucking it out of sight and turning her attention to Joey as he was being sworn in.

The questioning went similarly to how Yugi's questioning had gone: asking about how long he'd known Seto, the different times they'd interacted, which included duels and tournaments. Joey did well, just as well as Yugi, right up until the end. But wait, it wasn't the end; one more question from the defense lawyer, who cast Seto a stern look before she spoke.

"Joseph, I've been instructed to ask you what transpired between you and the defendant on this day"—she recited a date from eight months ago, and Joey felt his hopeful smile start to fade as he remembered the day she was talking about. He glanced over at Seto with a look of nervous uncertainty, and received a small, encouraging nod from the brunette. So that was why he'd asked if Joey was willing to answer any question for him. Joey felt a little hurt at being blindsided like this, but then again, he had said he would answer _anything_. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, turning to look back at the lawyer.

"That was the day Seto found out that… I was anorexic," he said slowly, keeping his eyes on the lawyer, trying to keep himself calm as whispers rippled through the courtroom. "And that I was being abused by my alcoholic father." Now _that_ really stirred up the crowd. The Judge called for order in the court before they continued.

He heard Yugi gasp, but Joey couldn't look at him. If he looked, he would cry, and he was already having difficulty keeping it together as he remembered the state of mind he'd been in on that day. Yugi and the others had always suspected that Mr. Wheeler hurt his son, but Joey would never have admitted to it. He hated that they were finding out about it like this.

"And how did the defendant discover this?" Ms. Julian asked, starting to figure out what Seto wanted her to get at. Seto had kept his lawyers in the dark about his plan too; after all, this was his contingency, his emergency escape route. It was a devastating strategy that would annihilate the prosecution, if his estimations were correct—and of _course_ they were correct.

"I had passed out in the bathroom at school," Joey answered slowly, trying to remember what Seto's lawyers had taught him: be direct and to the point, speak to the jury, be clear, and don't obfuscate. "After... purging, that is," he added, feeling awful and awkward just thinking about it. "It was one of the last few days that he still tried attending school. He could tell that something was seriously wrong, so he carried me out to his limo. When I woke up, he confronted me about it." He cleared his throat now, pausing as he took another steadying breath. It was getting hard to keep his eyes up at all. He just wanted to look at his hands and cry, but he wouldn't let himself. He needed to hold it together, for Seto.

"And what did he say to you?" she persisted, trying to find the gold nugget in Joey's story that would give it influence with the jury.

"He told me that he knew something was wrong and that he would make sure I got help," Joey answered with difficulty. His voice was betraying him, telling the whole court that he might cry at any moment. "He gave me two options: I could either accept the help of his private doctors and tell him what was wrong so that he could help me, or he would admit me to the hospital and call Yugi to tell him where I was. I told him to mind his own business and let me go, and he told me that he refused to do nothing when I was clearly underweight and needed immediate medical attention."

"And what did you choose?"

"I… I chose his help," Joey answered, the room blurring as his eyes filled with tears at last. Caroline handed him a tissue, which he accepted gratefully. He dried his eyes as he explained, "I-I was too much of a coward to tell my friends about it yet. So I told him, in short, how I'd gotten to be in the state I was in, and I was kinda surprised when he revealed that he'd figured it out pretty well on his own. He could even tell just by looking that I had two broken ribs, and I didn't even know about those." Joey's voice broke as he laughed nervously, then used the tissue to wipe away more tears. Why was Seto making him do this?

"How did you react to that?"

"Well, I was surprised, certainly, but especially when he told me to…" Joey hesitated, surprised by a flash of understanding. "When he told me to stop slouching because that made it worse. I did as he said, and it did make my ribs hurt less, and I asked him how he knew that." He looked over at Seto, even though the lawyers had told him that he was supposed to be talking to the jury. Their eyes met and Seto could tell that Joey was starting to understand: Joey's testimony wasn't just proof of Seto's good character, but also proof of his abuse, the kind of proof that was less likely to filter its way back to Mokuba. "And he could have told that he'd read it somewhere or that it was common sense, but he didn't. He could have," he repeated softly, "But he didn't."

"What _did_ he say?" Ms. Julian asked, a tad annoyed.

"He said… His exact words were, 'Gozaburo was a hard man to please. Not even Mokuba knows how much of a monster he truly was.'" Joey fell silent as tears finally fell from his eyes, and for a few moments, all he could do was blink at Seto, who was smiling ever so faintly at him, pride twinkling in those bright blue eyes.

"And did he help you recover after that conversation?" Ms. Julian asked, urging to Joey to continue, even as several audience members started sniffling and reaching for tissues of their own.

"He did," he answered, looking back to the jury, like he was supposed to. "His doctors helped me, he gave me a place to stay, he offered me a job for when I was fully recovered, he even gave me transportation to and from school since I no longer lived close enough to walk the distance. It only took me about a month, give or take a week, to kick the habit for good. Life got a lot better after that. I didn't even know that things _could_ get any better, before he showed me that they could."

After a few more questions, during which Joey mentioned the Virtual Reality program Seto had developed for terminally ill children, Joey was cross-examined briefly and unsuccessfully by the prosecutor. Then they were all released by the court in order to take an hour recess for lunch. Seto went straight to Joey, his long legs letting him reach the blond before anybody else could. Joey started crying again as he saw Seto approaching, and the brunette quickly whisked his witness away to the restroom so they could have some privacy.

"You trusted me from the beginning," a sentimental Joey exclaimed, wrapping his arms around Seto's neck in a tight hug. Then he quickly released Seto and pushed away from him. "I'm mad at you!" He was still crying, still upset, but his emotions were also conflicted, and he couldn't make up his mind. He slammed his fists against Seto's chest, exclaiming, "You had no right to do that to me! I didn't want Yugi to find out about that, and especially not in _court_!"

"Hey, careful." Seto spoke softly, a warm smile on his face as he gently took hold of Joey's hands and uncurled his fists. The sudden tenderness of those long fingers caressing his hands flustered Joey even further as Seto kissed both of Joey's palms.

"I don't understand." Joey gazed up at Seto, utterly perplexed. "Why are you smiling? Did I do something right?"

Seto took out his handkerchief and used it to dry Joey's cheeks as he answered, "You did _everything_ right, Joey."

"I did?"

"Yes! Everyone _loved_ you!" He took Joey's face in his hands and kissed him firmly, surprising Joey immensely. They were in a public place where anybody could walk in on them, which was exactly the type of thing that Seto usually hated. He pulled back and smiled brightly at Joey, who now saw that Seto's own eyes had watered a bit. "Your testimony might have won us the whole case!"

"But _how_?"

Seto didn't seem interested in explaining how at the moment. What he cared about was getting Joey cleaned up and settled down. He advised Joey that he wash his face properly to remove all traces of salt, and Joey obeyed with a sigh. Seto tended to know what was best, anyways. As he finished patting his face dry with some paper towels, Seto pulled him close again and started to fix his hair.

"Oh, quit fussing," Joey grumbled without making a single attempt to brush Seto's hands away. He'd learned in the first few weeks that Mokuba was gone that letting Seto fret over him and act like a mother every now and then helped him handle the loss of his brother better. It was probably just the act of caring for someone else that made him feel useful and affirmed his belief that he was, indeed, a good parent to his little brother.

"You need a haircut," Seto commented as he switched from fixing Joey's hair to straightening Joey's tie. He was personally quite proud of himself for wrestling his mutt into a suit for court. Last night when he'd found out that Joey had never worn a suit before, he'd taken it upon himself to teach him how to tie a tie. Joey didn't care enough to learn, though, so Seto had tied his tie for him that morning. Seto didn't mind: it gave him full control over what color tie Joey wore, which could prove to be a "valuable" resource.

"You're doing it again, Seto."

"Am not." Seto pouted, now brushing imaginary dust off of Joey's shoulders with his hands.

"You totally _are_ ," Joey teased, crossing his arms. "It's okay, I get _why_ you mother me like this, I just think it's _weird_ when you do it."

Seto snorted. "Well, you're the one who likes to cook," he shot back rather irrelevantly, making Joey chuckle.

"Do you think Mokuba's grown very much since I last saw him?" The sudden question caught Joey off guard, and he glanced up to see that Seto looked worried, nervous almost.

"Yeah, he should be taller than you by now!" Joey teased, bringing a small smile to Seto's sad face.

"There's no way that Mokuba's going to be taller than me," he scoffed confidently. He tugged Joey forward by the lapels of his suit jacket and gave him one last kiss before releasing him. "I suppose I should eat food or something," he mused indifferently. "I think I'll talk to Ms. Julian first, though."

"Yeah, I have to catch up with Yug." Joey sighed, and Seto kissed his forehead apologetically.

"I'm sorry for putting you on the spot like that, Joey," he murmured. "But I didn't want you to have time to practice what you were going to say. I wanted to see the genuine you, because that's who people will believe."

"Whaddya mean, the 'genuine me?'" Joey snapped, feeling indignant. "Do you think I wouldn't show my true self otherwise?"

"In the past, you had a habit of putting up a front, a facade, with even your closest friends," Seto pointed out patiently. "You're even doing it right now. But I wanted to see the _genuine_ you tell your own story. Because you were authentic out there, your testimony worked even better than I thought it would. Thank you."


	8. Acquittal

Joey spoke with Yugi privately outside the court-house, and while both cried at some point in the course of the discussion, they were able to come to terms with what had happened.

"It doesn't really matter who you got help from, Joey," Yugi said. "What matters is that you GOT help, and that's all I really care about. I do wish that you'd felt comfortable enough with us to be honest about your father, but I understand that you didn't want us to worry." He smiled understandingly up at his friend. "I always did wonder how the two of you got together. Was that it?"

"That's what started it, yeah," Joey admitted with a blush. "But it wasn't just that."

"Oh?"

"You see, after he made that comment about Gozaburo in the limo, I never really forgot about it. So after a while, I started pestering him and…" Joey sighed, and Yugi touched his arm comfortingly. "Well, I never thought that physical abuse from our fathers would be the common thread that pulled us together. I handled it with anorexia, and he handled it with cutting—"

"He did?" Yugi gasped, his eyes swelling with tears of pity.

"Yeah, but, I probably shouldn't have told you that," Joey realized aloud, his eyebrows knitting together worriedly. "That's our secret, okay Yug?"

Yugi nodded eagerly, then asked, "He's stopped that now, though, right?"

"For the most part," Joey answered evasively, scratching the back of his head.

"When was the last time he cut?" Yugi asked softly.

"Maybe a week after they took Mokuba," he admitted quietly. "He was having a hard time handling it, and I mean, a _really_ hard time. He's been clean for the most part, but there have been a couple of times when there'll be something that breaks him all over again." He straightened up, a determined look in his eye. "I know he'll move past it all, though. He will. He's strong enough. And I'll do anything I have to in order to help him."

"I'm so proud of you, Joey." Yugi embraced him tightly, smiling hopefully. "You've helped him a lot. I can see that. I'm glad that you have, because I can't think of anyone else who could have done for him what you did."

* * *

The next character witness after the lunch break was a young woman who'd met Seto a year ago when he'd stopped her from committing suicide. She'd been trying to jump off a bridge when he pulled his car over to talk to her. She'd told him that she just found out that she was pregnant, and after telling her boyfriend, he'd beaten her and told her to leave and never return. She'd left with nothing and had nowhere to go. At her wit's end, she'd turned her her last resort: suicide. That was when Seto'd offered her a job that would house, feed, and support her, even giving her free medical care, given her circumstances. She now worked at his mansion as a maid, and her baby was now a healthy five-month-old girl. She received a lot of support from the other staff, which helped make her new life seem like such a blessing.

Following her was a slew of similar stores: an abused runaway foster child whom Seto'd found on the streets and who'd told his story to the teen so that Seto could report his abuse to the police and get him relocated somewhere safer; a young woman held prisoner by her abusive alcoholic boyfriend who'd been about to receive another beating from him in an alleyway when Seto happened by and rescued her, turning him in and giving her the resources she needed to restart her life; and so on, and so forth. They'd summoned less than half of his charity cases to testify, and they'd only gone through a quarter of them in what remained of that day.

Yugi and his friends were starting to feel bad for how harshly they'd judged Kaiba in the past. Yugi'd had more faith in the young executive than his other friends had, but still, he felt awful, like he owed Kaiba an apology.

It took three days for all of Kaiba's character witnesses to give their testimonies, and they were just a subsection of the total number of people he'd helped. The people who gave testimonies were just the ones who could make it to court out of the names Seto had highlighted on his list.

Kaiba felt incredibly confident that the case was won long before the jury delivered its verdict, but Joey still felt nervous, not because of genuine doubt, but because there was still an uncertainty so long as they hadn't yet heard from the jury. So, during those three days of testimonies, Seto sent some of his people—people he kept on call because of their particular skill sets—to investigate the prosecution. There were things about his arrest and their seizure of Mokuba that didn't make sense to him. What they discovered was actually quite interesting.

At the end of the second day, Joey decided to Skype Mokuba again. _He_ was allowed to do so as long as Seto wasn't in the room at the time.

"Things are looking good," Joey said with a smile. "Your brother is confident that you'll be coming home tomorrow."

"That's what Roland said," Mokuba replied, smiling nervously. "How's Seto doing?"

"He's holding up well enough, but he misses you something awful," Joey answered, his eyes gleaming sadly. "He still needs you, kid."

"I need him too." Mokuba sighed heavily, looking sad as he reflected on the four long months he'd been away from his big brother. "I miss him a lot. Phone calls just aren't enough."

"I agree, but in less than two days, you guys will be together again, and all of this will be nothing but a bad memory."

"Can you promise that?" Mokuba asked quietly, wanting assurance. He was scared. After all, he wasn't allowed in the court-room, wasn't even allowed to give his testimony because they'd claimed that he was "unreliable"—whatever that meant.

"I promise." Joey wished that he could ensure the outcome of the trial. Seto insisted that he already had done so with his testimony, but Joey still couldn't see why HIS testimony was so special. He was hoping that it would make sense to him the more character witnesses that testified, but it wasn't, not yet.

After he and Mokuba said goodbye and goodnight, he went to find Seto, deciding to ask him outright. He found him in his library, perusing the shelves rather listlessly.

"How's Mokuba doing?" he asked as soon as he realized that Joey had entered the room.

"He's fine, he just misses you a lot." Joey wrapped his arms around Seto's torso as the brunette reached up to return a book to a shelf above his head. Seto's arms lowered and looped around the blond's shoulders, holding him close.

"Thanks for checking up on him for me," Seto murmured, burying his nose in Joey's hair as cumulative exhaustion made his eyelids hang low over his eyes.

"No problem. I was wondering about something, though…"

"Wondering about what?"

"Why you said that my testimony might have won the trial for you. It seems like you have a lot of witnesses that you've helped out, so why was mine so special?"

Seto chuckled a little and answered warmly, "It was special because it was _yours_." Joey blushed a little as Seto continued, "Even though they don't know that we're romantically involved, they still see that you occupy a very unique position in relation to me, one that nobody else holds. None of my other business associates or classmates has been helped by me in that way. You're the only one. None of my other charity cases had met me in person before the encountered that led to my helping them. You're the only one. None of my other charity cases ever held anything against me or thought I was cold and heartless before I helped them. You're the only one, and that makes your testimony irrefutable." He tipped Joey's head back so that he could kiss him. Joey could tell that Seto was trying his best to kiss him gently, and that always warmed Joey's heart. "You bridge the two worlds. Without you, they might have found ways of discrediting the other testimonies. Or they might have claimed that the hemispheric nature of my acquaintances is some kind of indication that I have problems relating to people I see on a regular basis, or some other nonsense like that. Even if they did that _now_ , you're testimony is immune to anything they could claim against it. Without you to bridge the gap, I could still lose my brother, even with the copious character witnesses I brought in." They kissed again, earnestly and briefly, then Seto let his head rest against Joey's, closing his eyes. "I'm so tired…"

"Then let's get you to bed," Joey suggested with a playful wink. He would normally berate Seto for the careless sleeping habits he'd adopted lately, but he wasn't in the mood to do so. He felt like he was glowing from the inside out knowing that he'd been able to do so much to help. All along, he'd felt rather useless, without legal savvy or any skills that he could contribute. What Seto'd said made him feel a lot better.

The third and final day of Seto's character witnesses, Ryou didn't come to court. Yugi explained to Joey that the Brit's strong empathy had made the previous two days difficult for him and that he couldn't handle another day of painful testimonies, but that he'd be back tomorrow for the close of the trial.

The last day in court, Joey was incredibly jittery, unable to sit still. Yugi held his hand tightly, offering him what comfort he could, given the circumstances. For the hundredth time, Joey wished that he was allowed to sit with Seto, but he was at the front of the room where only he and his lawyers were allowed to be.

"Would the defendant please rise for the reading of the verdict?" the judge called out, and Seto, with proud reluctance, complied.

Not guilty. The moment those words were read aloud, cheering broke out from among Seto's supporters. The moment that court was let out of session and people started standing so that they could leave, Seto approached one of the police officers and handed him a file, exchange a few hushed words before he turned and headed straight towards Joey. It was a good thing that he'd picked an aisle seat, because the moment Seto was close enough, he grabbed Joey by the hand and began dragging him out of the court-room at a rapid pace. Seto was so relieved that he couldn't speak; he needed to see Mokuba NOW.

Roland, per his employer's instructions, had brought Mokuba to the courthouse that morning in anticipation of the desired verdict and waited outside with the child. Seto forced his way past the press with Joey in tow, bursting from the doors of the courthouse with restless urgency.

"Seto!" The sound of his little brother's voice drew his attention immediately. There he was, running towards Seto as fast as he could. The elder Kaiba dropped Joey's hand and rushed towards Mokuba, bending down when they met so that they could hug properly. He straightened up, Mokuba's arms wrapped around his neck and his legs wrapped around his torso. It was touching to see their reunion, the way they embraced as if they'd never see each other again. Mokuba was crying, and Seto was only holding back tears because they were still in public; they murmured their greetings to each other, but with the noise of the surrounding crowd in his ears, Joey couldn't hear them at this distance.

He joined them quickly, though, standing at Seto's side as reporters and journalists started snapping pictures and pressing forward, held back only by Seto's personal security agents. Joey was careful not to stand too close, knowing that Seto hated his private life being publicized like this and that he'd kept their relationship under wraps in order to prevent the tabloid-writers from publishing any nastiness about Joey or their relationship. He respected Seto's decision well enough to uphold it and remain discrete, even though Seto himself had made a few small slip-ups during the trial, too preoccupied with his brother to care much for discretion. But then Seto did something that shocked everyone.

He put Mokuba down at last, though the brothers continued to hold hands. With Mokuba on his right and Joey on his left, Seto grabbed Joey's tie and pulled him close, then gave him a quick kiss, in front of everyone. Joey's face burned, even as he smiled stupidly back at his boyfriend. He'd never seen Seto so happy before.

The young executive took Joey by the hand as well and led to his limo the two people who were dearest to him in the whole world. Once inside, he had Mokuba cuddling against him and his arm around Joey's shoulders.

"I'm sorry I missed your birthday." He felt obligated to apologize, even though it was hardly his fault. "To make it up to you, we can do anything you want, go anywhere in the world you wish to go. Anything, you name it."

Mokuba lifted his head from Seto's chest and smiled at his brother through his tears. "I just want to go home, Seto."

"Home it is, then," he said, nodding to their chauffeur.

"Seto, what did you give that police officer?" Joey asked curiously, asking now because he didn't want to wait and forget to do so later.

"That file contained what my private investigators dug up on our relatives. Turns out, they bribed a number of people involved in law enforcement in order to have Mokuba removed from me so quickly. They also found evidence of other misdeeds, including ways in which they'd falsified significant portions of their case. I turned it over to the police so that _they_ could be arrested, tried, and convicted."

"What?!" Joey was shocked, but Seto hadn't been at all surprised when he found out.

"I guess they figured that the cost of bribery would be worth it if they could claim guardianship of Mokuba and demand that I pay them huge sums in order to procure his wellbeing."

"Can we talk about something else?" Mokuba pleaded, drying his eyes with the handkerchief Seto had handed him.

"Of course. What do you want to do when we get home?" Seto was determined to be a better brother than he'd ever been before, the best brother he could possibly be.

"Isn't today a school day?" Joey raised an eyebrow at the Kaibas, who looked at each other with mischievous smiles.

"It's only a Friday," Seto said with a shrug, looking relaxed and at peace, as if nothing could make him nervous or anxious, not while he had his brother and his boyfriend in his arms. "He won't be missing out on much." He smiled at Joey, his eyes filled with gratitude. He kissed him again then, letting it last just a little longer than their previous kiss. Mokuba cut it short by harmlessly punching his brother in the chest.

"I've decided what I want us to do when we get home," he announced.

They watched all of Mokuba's favorite movies, played his favorite games, ate his favorite foods. Seto even let Mokuba eat ice cream in the middle of the afternoon. He realized that he hadn't spoiled Mokuba enough in the past. True, you couldn't spoil a child all the time, but every now and then wouldn't hurt, and he'd never indulged him much at all. Now, he showered his affection on him by granting his every wish. It was a good day, the kind of day that made Seto wonder if perhaps he _should_ take a vacation, just so that he could repeat the experience.

At Mokuba's behest, he'd stayed out of his office and off his computer all day. He wanted his brother's full attention for at least this one day. He understood that there was a good reason that his brother was so often preoccupied; he was the president of a huge company, and he was good at his job. Part of that was being attentive to and involved in his company. It was good that he worked hard, but Mokuba thought that one full day without him working was something they'd both earned after this whole ordeal.

By the end of the day, they were all appropriately exhausted. One last movie. Mokuba had begged for just one last movie, and of course Seto had allowed it. By the time the credits started rolling, though, all three of them had fallen asleep, the two older boys cuddled and curled around the child they'd fought so hard for so long to bring home.


End file.
